Harvesting Salsify, Parsnips and Sprouts

A Whole Fortnight!

It’s been two weeks since I’ve been down to the plot and it’s not because there is nothing to do down there. It really is quite crazy, after all I can walk around there in two minutes flat.. Admittedly I have been pretty busy, we went to France, work has been a bit manic and the weather has been against us.

Yesterday was a good example. I decided to go to the plot but on opening the email was a panic from a client, so sort that out. OK, ready to go then the phone goes. Bang goes another hour and a half. Quickly sort out what we’ve discussed and switch off the infernal computer. Finally I can escape and the phone goes again. Put the phone down and it is twenty to four and starting to darken.

So, down to the plot where, unsurprisingly, I am the only one on the site. It’s not too cold but very damp, so not exactly pleasant. I’d rather have cold and dry than warm and wet any day.

I took down the kitchen compost bins and moved the bag with the broken glass in that is stopping the lid from flapping about. Great start, I stabbed my thumb, which poured with blood.

Sitting on my plot by the greenhouse is a black ‘Dalek’ compost bin. I’ve no idea where this has come from, so I’ll leave it be and see if it’s claimed.

Salsify, Parsnips and Brussels Sprouts.

I started by harvesting one stick of sprouts, the rest are blown and will end up being recycled on the compost heap. Dug up three parsnips, I don’t think they’d win any prizes but they are reasonable and finally some salsify. I’ve never grown this before so I’m not sure what it should look like, Best I can explain is hairy dandelion roots.

Well, we’ll see what they taste like.

Too Wet for Digging

The ground is really wet, so I stuck to the paths and on plot 5 they are disintegrating fast, the wood chippings rotting down. So I really couldn’t continue with digging over  despite not even having made a start on plot 5.

Leafmould

The council have delivered yet more leaves – wonderful people. So I thought I’d make a start by emptying my leafmould bin and starting to refill it. On top of the leaves were some plastic sheets so I moved those out of the way to see some tunnels. A bit like when you lift a slab and there is an ant’s nest under but on a larger scale. Either I have the biggest ant in the world or something else has been making the leafmould bin his home.

Started emptying the bin but, as usual, time caught up with me so back home around 4pm

On the Web site

Some time back I combined seeds from different suppliers into a list on the site and sorted them out into different categories and those with the Award of Garden Merit. They all link to their respective web pages on the seed merchant’s sites. I thought this was quite a clever idea and would be really quite helpful. Of course, I hadn’t planned on Dobies and Suttons changing their web sites and breaking all the links. So big thanks to Val who spent 5 hours yesterday changing links and is only a third of the way through. That’s got to cost a box of choccies!